Abstract:
Background: Congenital anomaly is defined as structural or functional anomalies that occur
during intrauterine life. Although some institution-based studies estimated the prevalence of
congenital anomalies in Ethiopia, the findings could not be generalizable to the community.
Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence, trend, and associated factors of congenital
anomalies among newborns in Kersa District, Oromia regional state, Eastern Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among newborns. The study used
Kersa Health and Demographic Surveillance System data from 2015 to 2022. Kersa Health and
Demographic Surveillance System tracks demographic and health changes in the community.
The data was extracted from the database by using a checklist prepared from the literature that
addresses the study objectives. The extracted data was exported to SPSS version 26.0 for
Analysis. The prevalence of congenital anomalies was estimated. The associated factors of
congenital anomalies were identified using binary logistic regression; the significance was
declared at a p-value of < 0.05 and considering 95% CI of the adjusted odds ratio.
Results: In this study, 27,350 newborns were included. The prevalence of congenital anomalies
was 0.38% (3.83 per 1000 live births). During 2015-2022, the prevalence of congenital
anomalies showed an increasing pattern. It was significantly associated with the age of the
mother older than 35 years (AOR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.07, 2.62), place of birth (AOR: 2.04, 95%
CI: 1.04, 4.02), and birth weight (AOR=0.14, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.47).
Conclusion: The trend of congenital anomalies at the Kersa Health and Demographic
Surveillance system showed an increasing trend. It was significantly associated with age of the
mother, place of birth, and birth weight. Therefore, maternal care during pregnancy that can
modify fetal-maternal Health should be strengthened; and it should get special consideration
during the epidemic problem. Further longitudinal study is important to support the findings of
the study.
